A newborn elephant calf which had got stuck in a swampy field was rescued by forest department officials in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district on Friday. A herd of 21 elephants has been roaming in Fingeshwar forest range of the district for the last couple of days, said a forest official. "Around 5 am, we got information that an elephant in the herd had given birth to a calf near Bangawa village and the newborn is stuck in the marshy field," said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Mayank Agrawal.

"Officials rushed there, but we could not launch a rescue operation immediately as the baby elephant's mother was very close," he told Express. "As soon as the mother elephant retreated into the forest, we started our operation. The calf was pulled out by 8 am with the help of locals," he said. Veterinarians examined the calf on the spot and it looked fine, he said. As the herd had moved inside the forest, officials were now trying to reunite the baby with its family, he said. On June 16, an elephant from the same herd was found dead in marshland near in the submergence area of Gangrel reservoir in the neighbouring Dhamtari district, the DFO said.